Shoe-heel



P. 1. LOVETT. I

SHOE HEEL.

7 APPLICATION FILED OCT. 24. I9I9. 1,365,515, Patented Jan. 11, 1921.

UNITED. STATES PATRICK .n'LovETr, orrn SOTO, MISSOURI.

SHOE-HEEL.

Specification-of Letters Patent. Patented J an. 11, 1921.

Application fi1ed 0ctober 24, 1919. Serial No. 333,003.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, PATRICK J LOVETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at De Soto, Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in ShoeHeels, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such. as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the .same.

This invention relates to shoe heels, and particularly to relatively high heels of the so-called French type which are used extensively on womens shoes and slippers.

The main object of my invention is to provide a strong French type heel of novel construction that will not split or break at the contracted portion of the heel. Another object is to providea novel reinforced wooden heel that can be manufactured at a low cost. v v

And still another object is to provide a wooden heelhavinga reinforcing elemeiit whose bottom portion is formed by a piece of wood arranged so that the grain; of same extends vertically or longitudinally of the height of the heel, thereby producing a heel whose bottom side edges are not apt to chip off. Other objects and desirable features of my invention will be hereinafter pointed out.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a perspective view of a shoe heel of theso-called French type constructed in accordance with. my in vention' and formed from two pieces of wood.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the heel shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3v is a verticaltransverse sectional view, taken on the line 3- 3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the reinforcing element; and

Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse sectional view, illustrating a slight modification of my invention.

I have herein illustrated my invention embodied in a wooden heel of the French type such as are used extensively on womens shoes and slippers, namely, a heel of relatively great height having a deeply. undercut breast and a rear side that slopes forwardly to a pointin close proximity to the breast, thus forming a contracted portion intermediate the top and bottom of the heel whose cross section is considerably less than the top face or bottom face of the heel. I do not wish it to be understood, however, that my invention is limited to a heel of the so-called French type, as it is.

applicable to various'kinds or styles of high heelssuch as are used on womens shoes and slippers. Furthermore, while I have herein illustrated my invention embodied in. av wooden. heel provided with a wooden reinforcing element, I wish it tobe understood that my broad idea is applicable to heels formed of other material than Lwood. Briefly stated, my invention consists in a shoe heel having a vertically-disposed rcinforcing element embedded in the body portion of same and extending. preferably from the breast to the rear side of the'heel,

so as to reinforce and strengthen thebody portion at the point where there is'the greatest tendency for the heel to split or break when it isin service. In the pre ferred form of 7 my invention, as herein illustrated, the body portion of the heel is formed from a block of wood whose grain extends substantially horizontally and the reinforcing element is formed from a piece of wood set in a groove in the body portion of the heel and arranged so that the grain of same extends substantially vertically or longitudinally of the height of the heel. 1

Referring to the drawings which illustratethe preferred form of my invention,

A designates the body portion of the heel which is preferably formed from a block of wood and B designates the reinforcing element of the heel-whichis also preferably formed-froma block of wood. The rein forcing element B is embedded in the body portion A and so arranged that the grain of same extends" vertically or longitudinally of the height of the heel so that it will reinforce and strengthen the contracted Y part of the body portion which is composed 'of wood whose grain extends substantially horizontally or crosswise of the heel, as

shown in Fig. 1. In the preferred form of my invention, as shown in Figs. 1 to 4,

inclusive, the reinforcing element B is provided with a vertically-disposed, wedgeshaped part 1 embedded in an invertedV- shaped groove on the underside of the body portion A ofthe heel and having its side edges terminating flush with the breast as and the rear side 1 of the heel, and a base part 2 integrally connected to said wedgeshaped part 1 and bearing against the lower end of said body portion A so as to form the bottom portion of the heel.

A wooden heel of the construction above described is much stronger than the wooden heels heretofore in general use, owing to the fact that the contracted intermediate portion of the heel is composed of a plurality of wooden parts arranged so that the grain of one partextends at an angle to the grain of the other part, thus reinforcing and strengthening the part of the heel which is most liable to crack or break when in service on account of its reduced cross section. Another desirable feature of such a heel is that the bottom portion ofsame is not liable to chip oif at the side edges of the bottom face of the heel, due to the fact that said bottom portion is formed from a piece of wood whose grain is disposed edgewise, or, in other words, extends longitudinally of the height of the heel. The reinforcing element B is permanently combined with the body portion A of the heel, preferably by means of glue or some other suitable adhesive, and while it is immaterial, so far as my present invention is concerned, how the parts A and B are assembled or combined, in practice I prefer to connect two strips of wood of the proper cross-sectional shape, then out said strips up into blocks of the proper size and finish each of said blocks on a shaping machine in the same manner as wooden heels are now finished or formed.

It is not essential to the successful operation of my invention that the reinforcing element B be provided with a base. portion 2 that constitutes the bottom part of the heel, for if desired, the reinforcing element may consist merely of a vertically-disposed, wedge-shaped member l embedded in a groove on the underside of the body portion of the heel, as shown in Fig. 5, and having its side edges terminating flush with the outer surface of the heel. 1

lVly improved heel is intended to be covered with leather or finished in the same manner as wooden heels of the kind now in use.

bottom part of Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is I.

1. A shoe heel formed from a block of wood whose grain extends substantially horizontally, and a vertically-disposed, substantially wedge-shaped wooden reinforcing clement embedded in said block and arranged with its grain extending substantially vertically and its side edges terminating in the breast and rear side of the heel.

2. A shoe heel, comprising a body portion formed of wood, a'wooden member separate and distinct from said body portion that constitutes the lower or bottom part of the heel, and an integral reinforcing element on said bottom member embedded in the body portion of the heel and arranged with its grain extending at an angle to the grain in said body portion.

3. A shoe heel, comprising a body portion formed from a block of wood whose grain extends substantially horizontally, a wooden member constituting the bottom part of the heel and arranged with its grain extending substantially vertically, and an integral portion on said bottom member embedded in said body portion and having its side edges terminating flush with the breast and the rear side of the heel.

A \shoe heel having a body portion formed from a block of wood provided with a vertically-disposed groove that extends lengthwise of the heel, and a reinforcing element embedded in said groove and having an integral portion that constitutes the bottom part of the heel.

, A. French type shoe heel, comprising a bony portion formed from a block of wood whose grain extends substantially horizontally, said block having an inverted V- shaped groove in the under side of same that extends from the breast to the rear side of the heel, and a wedge-shapedreinforcing element in said groove whose grain extends substantially vertically, said reinforcing element having a portion that constitutes the the heel.

PATRICK J. LOVETT. 

